SQL Server Security

SQL Server is a critical component through which many organizations manage their data and execute business processes. Therefore, the security of SQL Server is of utmost importance. Many tightenings can be applied to ensure SQL Server security. Here are some SQL Server security tightenings:

1. Use Strong Passwords: To increase SQL Server security, strong and complex passwords should be used. Passwords should contain complex features such as upper/lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
2. Restrict User Access: SQL Server administrators can restrict user access to ensure that only necessary users can access data.
3. Secure Access to SQL Server: Logins to SQL Server can be secured using methods such as strict password policies, IP filters, SSL certificates, and multi-factor authentication.
4. Apply Security Updates: Keeping SQL Server up-to-date is extremely important to prevent known security vulnerabilities. Therefore, security updates should be applied regularly.
5. Use SQL Server Audit: SQL Server Audit is a feature used to monitor the activities in the database. SQL Server Audit is extremely important for the protection of sensitive data and to fulfill regulatory requirements.
6. Use Data Encryption: By using data encryption in SQL Server, sensitive data can be protected. Data encryption reduces the risks from database attacks.

As a result, SQL Server security is extremely important to prevent data loss, reduce the risk of attacks and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The above tightenings will help SQL Server administrators to improve SQL Server security.

You can run the following script to list the users with sysadmin authorization on SQL Server;

SELECT
[loginname],
[password],
[sysadmin]
FROM
sys.syslogins
WHERE
sysadmin = 1